Minister of Health Dr Hamad bin Abdullah Al-Manie opened the International Conference on Bird Flu in Riyadh today. The conference, organized by the National Guard’s King Abdulaziz Medical City, is intended to shed light on avian flu and explore preventive measures to control the spread of the deadly infectious disease. Dr Abdulaziz Al-Rabee’a, the executive director of health affairs at the National Guard, said that the conference is the first of its kind in the Middle East.